Whitley Parish Council
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Whitley Parish Council 1. The meeting was opened at 7.00 pm by the Vice Chair Cllr Walton. 2. Open Public Forum(OPF) 14 th January 2020 2.1. There being no members of the public present at the meeting the public forum was closed by the Vice Chair. Minutes of the Whitley Parish Council Meeting held on 14 th January 2020 at Whitley and Eggborough Primary School Annex Building Ref 11/20 3. Present: Cllr Walton, Cllr Blackburn, Cllr Cole, Cllr White, Cllr Woodhead, Cllr Broadbent, and Clerk to the Council J Hunter. 4. Apologies for absence: 4.1. Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Humphrey in whose absence Cllr Walton assumed the role of Chair. 5. Disclosure of Interest: 5.1. There were no disclosures of interest from any member of the Council. 6. Minutes of the meeting on 14 th January 2020 of Whitley Parish Council. 6.1. Cllr White pointed out some minor adjustments to the wording; section 2.2 should read “Coal Authority” not “Coal Board”; and “Whitfield Lane” should read “Whitefield Lane”; section 7.2 the phrase “would prove to be unsuccessful” should read “was unlikely to be unsuccessful”; section 10.2 the cheque no 22438 should be shown as made payable to “Kellington and Whitley Church”; section 13.1 correction to the spelling of curb which should be kerb. 6.2. The Clerk made manual amendments to the minutes to give effect to these minor adjustments and the Council agreed that the minutes as amended of the Whitley Parish Council meeting held on 19 th November 2019 are a true record and accordingly were signed by the Chair Cllr Walton. 7. Opening matters for information and action as required: 7.1. Gale Common Extraction Proposal: The Clerk briefed the meeting on his conversation with Selby District County and North Yorkshire County (SDC&NYC) Cllr John McCartney. On 21 st January at the end of the North Yorkshire Planning Committee Meeting the matter of a potential site visit by members of the committee to the Gale Common Ash Disposal site is to be discussed. It has been proposed that the committee following their visit to Went Edge Quarry on Tuesday 4 th February are bused to Gale Common to view not only the extraction site but also the proposed route of the HGVs. One representative of those local Parish Councils affect by the application, including Womersley and Whitley, will also be invited to join the committee during the visit. Although the representative will not be permitted to raise any objections or concerns in respect of the application they will be free to point out any key features about which the committee should be aware when making their decision; such as width of Whitefield Lane, proximity of the local school, visibility of the A19 at its junction with Whitefield Lane etc. The Clerk advised the Councillors that following the committee meeting on 21 st January he would be informed of the arrangements of timings of the site visit. Councillors agreed that a member of the Parish Council should be in attendance and this would be established once further details of the proposed visit are obtained. The various activities of the Gale Common Action Group were discussed by the Council; the background of its formation, its relationship with the Parish Council, actions taken to date and details and timing of meetings held by the group since its formation. It was noted that during an Action Group meeting on 4 th December at which 5 members of the Parish Council were present the underwriting from Parish funds of expenditure by the Action Group was discussed with an indication from Cllr Humphrey that a budget of £500 could be made available to support the community campaign. It was also noted that costs incurred to date include printing of leaflets for mail drop, and three protest banners. Cllr White suggested that in the interests of the financial accountability of public funds and the provision of an appropriate audit trail that minutes of the meeting on the 4 th December should be presented to the Parish Council providing details of the various actions and undertakings discussed during the session. Cllr Broadbent advised that the requirement for urgent action was necessitated given what was then understood to be the imminent convening of the Planning Committee meeting to consider the planning application scheduled for late January 2020. It was important that the Gale Common Action Group were able to engage with as many as possible within the local community that would be impacted by the proposals to raise awareness and encourage articulation of objection to both North Yorkshire County Council and the offices of the Selby District MP Nigel Adams. Action: Cllr Broadbent to prepare minutes of the Gale Common Action Group meeting. Discussion and voting on a budget allocation to the Gale Common Action Group to be added as an agenda item in the next Council meeting on 25 th February 2020. Councillors further reflected on issues emerging from the proposal and the consequential impact on the community. Given the approvals on the Kellingley colliery waste management project, the proposed development of the Eggborough Power Station site coupled with the Gale Common Extraction project the anticipated number of HGV’s using junction 34 will be over 600 per day. It is understood from information supplied by SDC&NYC Cllr John McCartney that the Eggborough Power Station industrial development application will include the installation of an additional junction roundabout on the M62 to the East of junction 34, it was considered ironic given that EP UK Ltd have previously asserted that a junction on the M62 to facilitate the Ash removal was rejected by Highways. Questions were raised concerning the technical report on the current level of air quality presented within the planning application and how relevant such figures were based as they are upon existing traffic flow. The critical value would be the air quality following the additional traffic movements of 300 HGV’s per day on the A19. Cllr White suggested that an approach for advice and guidance be made to the Council’s planning consultant. Some disappointment was expressed in the failure of the local newspapers to engage with the campaign. It was noted that despite invitations directed to reporters to attend the various public meetings to date there has no press coverage. Notwithstanding the Action Group will continue to seek interest from reporters. It was conjectured that the potential aggregate selling value of the ash on the site would generate up to £250 million over the 25 years given the estimated quantity of recoverable material. The market was substantial, not necessarily within the local region, but throughout Yorkshire and beyond; a market that it is likely would be accessed via the A1. Cllr Broadbent questioned whether the Council should seek further guidance from the Council’s planning consultant on how the technical elements of the planning applications could be challenged. Cllr Woodhead advised that he was in contact with a campaign group in Wiltshire who are now 3 years into the opposition of the new road network planned to pass Stonehenge and would seek some insight and guidance on lessons this group has learned in objecting to issues of a technical nature. Action: Approaches be made to KVA planning consultants (the Councils planning consultant) to establish if she can provide further guidance and advice. 7.2. All Saints Church: The Clerk informed the meeting that he had been in email contact with both the Church Commissioners of England and the Church of England Diocese of Leeds to establish the current status of the proposal and to advise of the intention of the Parish to lodge a claim for refund of amounts contributed to the Church building works. At present an individual has sought leave to appeal the decision of the Church Commissioners which has now been passed to the Privy Council for ruling and consequently further action had been suspended until the matter has been decided. However, in relation to the funds the Leeds Diocese has requested details of signed contracts and paperwork in connection with the contributions made so that the Parish claim may be investigated. Cllr Broadbent provided some background history into the fund raising that was initiated in support of the All Saints Church some 15 years ago. About 2004 The Parochial Church Council for the Parish indicated that they were considering closure of the Church which prompted the formation of a community group to respond to this announcement either to lobby for the continuation of the Church or in the event of closure to explore potential of acquisition. The group pursued fund raising activities to provide resources to support their investigation into the various options in the assessment of future of the church. Whitley Parish Council contributed to this fund. The outcome of the PCC deliberations was to continue to provide ministry in the community and put on hold any suspension or curtailment of church services. The group in support of the PCC allocated a proportion of the funds raised in contributing to the upkeep of the church building paying for the provision of walls and fencing. It was noted that the amount of the contribution was not made to the church but paid directly to the building contractors. Action: Clerk to review the council archives, minutes etc to uncover any further information in connection with the Whitley Parish contributions. The matter to be carried forward and included as an agenda item in the next Parish meeting. 7.3. Gale Common Motor Cross: The Clerk updated the council on the current status of the planning application which is to be presented to the planning committee on 4 th March 2020.